1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a solar energy collection and storage systems that use the radiation from the sun to heat a liquid, and that use a vacuum enclosure to contain the collector, pump, pipes and storage tank to provide maximum insulation, minimum heat loss and maximum heat collection.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many solar energy collection and storage systems have only an evacuated vacuum space between a jacket and a collection tube of the system. Devices of this type are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,151,828 to Mather et al issued on May 1, 1979; U.S. Pat. No. 4,409,964 to Shimada et al issued on Oct. 18, 1983; U.S. Pat. No. 4,413,616 to Tonomura et al issued on Nov. 8, 1983; U.S. Pat. No. 4,649,903 to Takeuchi et al issued on Mar. 17, 1987; U.S. Pat. No. 4,674,478 to Liebard issued on Jun. 23, 1987; U.S. Pat. No. 4,886,048 to Labaton et al issued on Dec. 12, 1989; U.S. Pat. No. 5,555,878 to Sparkman issued on Sep. 17, 1996; Japan patent 55-7951 issued on January 1980; Japan patent 57-104050 issued on June 1982; and Japan patent 58-164947 issued on September 1983. These devices use only an evacuated space between a jacket and collection tube with no vacuum pump to support a continuous vacuum.
Other solar energy collection and storage systems such as: U.S. Pat. No. 4,253,445 to Wilson issued Mar. 3, 1981 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,281,637 to Wilson issued Aug. 4, 1981 include a vacuum pump for the collection tube and jacket, but not for the pump, pipes and storage tank.
It would be desirable to have a solar energy generation or storage system that uses the radiation from the sun to heat a liquid in a collector and that uses a vacuum enclosure to contain the collector, pump, pipes and storage tank to provide maximum insulation and minimum heat loss for those system components and uses a vacuum pump to ensure that the enclosure continues to have a vacuum.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singularly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed. Thus, a solar energy collection and storage system solving the aforementioned problems is desired.
The present invention is a solar energy collection and storage system that uses the radiation from the sun to heat a liquid in a collector and that uses an enclosure with a vacuum to contain the collector, pump, pipes and storage tank to provide maximum insulation, maximum heat or energy collection and minimum heat loss. Also, the vacuum inside the enclosure is continuously maintained by a vacuum pump. Because of the maximum insulation and minimum heat loss provided by the vacuum in the enclosure, the radiated heat collected, pumped and stored is expected to be so high that the liquid used has to be one that has a much higher boiling point than water. One such liquid is oil. A heat exchanger is included inside the storage tank. The heat exchanger is connected by pipes with an external pump to an external hot water heater, heat pump, steam turbine or boiler which is outside the enclosure. The heat exchanger and external hot water heater use water as is common to transfer the heat to a location outside the enclosure of the system of the present invention.
Accordingly, it is a principal object of the invention to provide a solar energy collection and storage system having much greater efficiency than the prior art.
It is another object of the invention to provide a solar energy collection and storage system having almost all the system components enclosed in an enclosure having a vacuum provided by a vacuum pump.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a solar energy collection and storage system where almost all the system components are insulated by a vacuum to allow minimum heat loss and maximum insulation.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a vacuum insulated enclosure for a solar energy collection and storage system which ensures against a lost vacuum through the use of a vacuum pump and tight seals.
It is an object of the invention to provide improved elements and arrangements thereof for the purposes described which is inexpensive, dependable and fully effective in accomplishing its intended purposes.